This was an incredible story! I love the idea and the ending was amazing. I almost forgot she died in a car accident and got confused at the neck part.

Oh my goooood...! This is such a heart-breaking ending that I want to cry. Are you sure you don't secretly work for Level-5, writing endings as tragic as this? ;_;

In all seriousness though, thank you so much for writing this. It's automatically my favourite Rhythm Thief fic that I've ever read and I can genuinely say that I felt more sympathy for Raphael in this chapter than I even did in the game. He had that brief time with his mother, they were both very brave together and you could tell that he got his caring compassion from her. But then she died so abruptly and just like everything said she would. I think it hurt more because we knew it was going to happen. And even though it was the right thing to do, her final moments, not even able to finish her sentence, were just tragic... Everyone in the story felt numb in that moment and I could see why.

The after-the-credits (thanks for including me by the way!) scene was very fitting and I'm glad it was there to make everything a little less heart-breaking. I also liked that the coin toss turned out to be completely wrong, just because I get a little thrill out of things going against fate. I'm not sure if you've seen the 90s Moomin cartoon, but this ending made me think a little of a scene from that, when Snufkin said that he would leave the valley (and his friends) for winter if he caught a certain amount of one kind of fish that day. Then when his prediction came true, he just threw the fish back in the river and stayed in the valley longer anyway. There's just something quite poignant and meaningful about scenes like that, which is the ending of this story worked so well for me.

I hope that the Vergier family and Raphael do cross paths again someday, but I like that this matter was kept open-ended.

Once again, thanks for writing this fic and I look forward to more in future.

You'll keep working on this right? I can't let it END HERE!

The puns... the stupid, corny, puns...
Now we know where Raphael gets his jester side.

Hershel Layton... Professor... Got it! Illuminati confirmed!

I'm always excited to see a new chapter of this fic in my inbox and it was great to come back from holiday to find one. :D

As always, the twists and turns in this fic keep you on the edge of your seat. Zoe's appearance was a complete surprise! Even after the build up, I never expected it to be her who Raphael found. And I feel so sorry for him. He's a good kid who just wants to be with his family, even if he understands why that can't happen. Poor guy... ;w;

Seeing the Vergier family working together at the end was a definite HECK YEAH moment too.

Amazing, and feels! Two words to describe this story.

this is getting intense
but at the same time, I feel like its not really about Raphael anymore, is it? we haven't even gotten to see his spectacular moves yet, and he's barely been in it, he's mostly been dragged around, and the attention is split between him, Marie, all three Vergier's, the Duchess, Isaac, Graf etc
rather than the mystery being prolongued, having it out in the open like this changes the dynamic A LOT

Oh God...

WHAT THE CRAP. WHAT IS EVEN HAPPENING?! I AM DYING HELP ME STAHP BUT ALSO WRITE MORE PLEASE.

Oh snap!

So much betrayal and plot-twists happening in this chapter! It's funny, because while I've had a feeling there's something a little off about Isaac throughout the story (not "off" as in he's written badly - to the contrary "off" as in you built up all the subtle hints that something wasn't quite right about him very well) when he kidnapped Marie and went off with Jean-François I was taken by complete surprise.

And poor Marie is in a very tight spot now! What a cliffhanger of an ending this chapter was. I'm definitely eager for more whenever you post any.

OH MY GOSH MY FEELIIIIIINGS. GAH. The whole parent-child dynamic in this story is killing me. It's too sweet and perfect and GAH. I will say that the change between Raphael and Isaac's perspectives was a little confusing at first, just 'cause I wasn't sure how far back we'd rewound, but it wasn't a big deal. Also, you definitely almost killed the protag, and I definitely sort of maybe screamed right before Isaac stopped him. If everyone at university thinks I'm crazy, I will blame you.

But seriously. I AM SO HAPPY YOU UPDATED THIS. THIS IS GLORIOUS.

I was about to say "Awww it's so sweet that father and son share their love of terrible puns" but then an army of the undead came up the stairs. 8D

Nice to see the next chapter of this fic with lots of action, especially with Raphael & Isaac finally being reunited. Now I can only imagine how the next chapter's going to go with a cliffhanger ending like this one.

It's always great to see this story updated, thank you for writing it. :D

And honestly, I didn't mind the lack of Raphael in this chapter, since we caught up with so many of the other characters and saw a few of them united with each other. I was particularly glad to see Emma again. I hope she and Elizabeth manage to escape all right. ;A;

THIS IS SO GOOD. CHARLIE IS AWESOME, AND MARIE AND RAPH ARE ADORABLE, AND EVERYTHING IS JUST REALLY GREAT.

I adore this fic. PLEASE UPDATE SOON.